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"I’ll take the front, through Katie’s and out to the street," he said intoin the broad shoulders and huge chest "Think you can boost Janie up to the hen I give the word?"

"Piece of cake" To me, Troll said, "You find who took my Katie and you put a hole in him for me"

I nodded and sheathed hI just hoped they weren’t still there waiting in aht, I said, "Eli, take Brute with you See if he sh another door"

Brute woofed and raced to the house, Eli hot on his tail Literally Whichthat the Master of the City and his heir had disappeared on my watch and under my nose

Troll stood bent-kneed, about five feet away froers together to ed the distance fro on Beast’s strength, I raced toward Troll and leaped, landing with ht foot in his hands I pushed off and up as Troll straightened his knees and si, throwing y thesash at waist level, s up I caught ether, the way a cat e or tree li, I inspected the room inside, dark and shadowed There was no one there, but the s thick on the air, lue, putty, wallboard, wood, and human sweat If there was an intruder inside, one who had a better-than-hu

"Janie," Troll called again

"What," I hissed over a shoulder

"Your feet are muddy And bare And the ’s broken"

"I noticed," I said dryly

"Be careful," he said "And bringon ter and frightened in his voice I so totally did not want to know about his relationship with Katie, but there was no doubt that he loved her

On a silent breath I said, softly, "Working on it, Troll Working on it" Then I letht drove the glass into my soles and I hissed at the pain of sliced flesh I took a second step inside, trying to avoid the glass, but a needle of antiquepierced er to e and s morphed from the knees down I held in a scream of pain as my bones cracked and shrank and then expanded into the half-hu-cat forue, adding the sasped when the bone pain eased and shook the glass off asp drew air into my mouth, and the scent and stink of humans and freshly spilled blood filled my head Blood-servants, several of therinus’ uys had disturbed them in the attic and died for their trouble

Silently, I crossed the rooht Back

The house beside Katie’s was empty except for two dead workers in the attic hallway and a dead contractor on the first floor They had died fast and recently, their blood still liquid and running into the corners of the uneven floors, soaking into the plaster and through the cracks, pulled by gravity into the nether regions of the house The construction van they had driven in was gone, a quick and easy way to , repair-requiring architecture No one would notice a panel van sporting a construction co we found in the house next to Katie’s was Derek, bleeding and beaten, slu away froroaned a bit and moved a lot more slowly, but he ith us mentally, once Soul rested her hands on his shoulders I wasn’t sure what she did, but it looked a lot like healing At the very least, she made him feel better

The cri for the hatchling, but with the deaths, she had no choice The special agent with PsyLED took the scene over with controlled and ruthless efficiency, calling her up-line boss, calling local contacts, starting with Jodi, and then working her way down the list to all the other agencies and people she needed to contact for a vaation She didn’t have to tell me this had FUBAR written all over it, and that I was the one ould get stuck in the middle of the mess if I was here

I didn’t stick around to see who all showed up Eli, Derek, Brute, and I left on foot, Brute in the lead, off leash, and we ran hard to keep up as he followed the scent of Katie and Leo, Peregrinus and the Devil, following the scents of danger, discord, and blood through the night He kept his nose in the air, tracking the van’s trail through French Quarter streets We ran across the Quarter and right back to vahts in that part of the Quarter went out, for at least four blocks, leaving a black hole in the night

I dialed Bruiser as we ran, just in case he was conscious again, but the call went to voice e "Up and at ’em, Onorio HQ has been hit"

• • •

The two-thousand-pound gate--the one that was designed to stop a dump truck filled with explosives--was bowed in and had bounced off its roller track, da and panting, taking it all in Eli swung a low-light ocular over one eye and scanned the grounds "Nothing No one Up the front or split up and take the back too?"

"I’et anized" The side entrance was hidden in the brick wall and opened into Leo’s office

I nodded to hiether" We raced in a zigzag pattern across the unlit, unmanned, circular drive and headed for the stairs to the entrance Three steps up, the night exploded in a blinding light Several things happened all at once Brute yelped We ducked to either side of the stairs, aruard our faces Eli cursed and yanked the ocular from his eye, temporarily blinded But there was no explosion, no shrapnel, nothing to explain the agonizing light, until it di, scintillating brilliance And then to darkness